‘Skate Jam’ The Cancelled ‘Space Jam’ Sequel That Almost Was

It has recently come to light from the Hawkman himself that in 2003 during the build-up to the release of Loony Tunes: Back in Action, Warner Bros was counting the chickens before they had hatched and had begun talks with Tony Hawk about him starring in a Skateboard themed sequel to Space Jam called Skate Jam.

Space Jam is a miracle of a movie a unique spectacle of its time. Lightning could never strike twice, could it? With Nothing hotter than extreme sports in 2003, you couldn’t move in suburban carparks for all the baggy-trousered skater boys relentlessly trying and failing to copy any of the moves they had seen on VHS tapes and PlayStation demo disks.

It must have seemed like a natural choice for film executives mining the Zeitgeist for the next mega profitable property rife for merchandising. Here’s the story straight from the man himself.

in 2003, I was requested to meet with Warner Brothers about doing a film tentatively titled “Skate Jam.” They were bringing back Looney Tunes with “Back In Action” & then wanted to start on my project immediately. A week later Back In Action bombed & Skate Jam was shelved forever pic.twitter.com/9giKzBnlWH

Much to the surprise of the executives at Warner Bros., the Brendan Fraser and Jenna Elfman project flopped. Back in Action brought in just $68.5 million. “Skate Jam was shelved forever.”

Although this project will never come to light, there has already been a fully animated feature appearance of Tony Hawk that will make you think twice before starting up a petition for Skate Jam’s completion. I’m not talking about his extended cameos in Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol, Rocket Power or The Simpsons. No, I’m talking about, 2005’s Boom Boom Sabotage, a motion capture tech demo that was fully animated staring Mr 900 and the rest of his Boom Boom HuckJam crew as themselves made for promotion of the then-upcoming extreme sports festival.

The plot of the film is something else: When an evil circus ringleader, Grimley kidnapped Tony Hawk and forced to perform tricks for a bored crowd, his only chance of rescue is a bunch of local skater punks that meander from one motion captured skate spot to another. Will he ever escape to skate another day? Not if his ragtag crew of skaters has anything to do about it! Get a move on lads your hero’s life is in danger!

Coincidently there has also been recently released a new mobile exclusive Tony Hawk skateboarding game called Tony Hawk’s Skate Jam. This new touchscreen title plays like a touchscreen version of the PlayStation era classics except with one hook: when you have built up your special meter enough you can temporarily transform your player created character into Tony Hawk himself to perform even sicker combos as you chase the highest score possible. Download it now on to your smart device and tear up some bowls.

What kind of sport would you have bluntly mashed together with Loony Tunes? I think it’s about time we get the animated polo feature we all deserve. Stay tuned to n3rdabl3 for all you Looniest rumors, reviews and news.